Reinforced wrench



Dec? 1955 c. w. MOON 2,727,418

REINFORCED WRENCH Filed Nov. 19, 1952 fig Ii- 1N VEN'IOR. EEEll "W Mann ATTOE/VE Y5 United States Patent 2,727,418 E Q s Ce MQnnrchei ec ady,.N.Y., assignontothe United statesof Amei-ica asrepresented by the Secreof h rm? Application November 19, 1952, Serial No. 321,399

6 Claims. (Cl. 81-121) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to wrenches.

An object of the invention is to provide an open end wrench having a reinforcing member detachably secured thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reinforcing member which will add strength to an open end Wrench and prevent spreading of its ends and consequent slipping.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reinforcing member which can easily be attached to a commercial type wrench with a minimum of machining.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wrench having a reinforcing member which may be assembled therewith in places where there is a minimum of working space.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a commercial type wrench assembled with the reinforcing member.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the assembly shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the wrench showing the retaining slot for the reinforcing member, and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the reinforcing member.

it is Well known that conventional Wrenches are unsatisfactory when it is desired to tightly draw a fitting where space is limited, box wrenches cannot be used where the externally threaded member is continuous and open end wrenches will spread when a desired or necessary high torque is applied. The present invention overcomes these difficulties.

Referring no wto the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a common form of open end wrench 5.

It will be understood that any type of open end wrench to which the reinforcing member may be attached may be used.

In the present illustration the wrench comprises a head 6 having spaced arms 7 suitably indented in their internal opposing faces as at 8, to form a socket for receiving a fitting 9 or any other device which it may be desired to 111m.

The head 6 is provided with a stub handle 10 to which any form of extension (not shown) may be secured. At the junction of the head 6 and the stub handle, on opposite sides thereof, semi-cylindrical slots are milled to provide seats 11.

An arcuate reinforcing member 12 completely embraces the head portion 6 and terminates, at each end, in a semi-cylindrical lug 13 of a size to slidably fit the seats 11. Intermediate its ends as at 14, the reinforcing member 12 spans the open space between the arms 7.

It will be noted that the bulbous portions 13 of reinforcernent 12 can only be seated in the respective chanv2 nels or seats 11,;by a, translationof the reinforcemen a i y 0f h wr ne ha i ina dir c onnar llel .wi h he-.axisof the thread of; he mem er tocb turned. Consequently, when the reinforcement is in Position asshown upon 'Fig 1 an 2,, any-t n ency ofwrencharms. 7.1.0

spread is resisted by tension in the reinforcement, whereby such spreading is eifectively prevented and a torque may be applied which is limited only by the tensile strength of the reinforcement.

In operation, when it is desired to use the Wrench on a nut or bolt head, the reinforcing member 12 is positioned by inserting the lugs 13 into the seats 11 and sliding the member 12 over the socket 6 to a position substantially as shown at Fig. 2. The wrench may then be turned in either direction to move a nut or bolt, without danger of the arms 7 spreading, permitting the wrench to slip off of the work, and damaging the wrench.

When it is desired to use the wrench on pipe or tube fittings the reinforcing member is removed and the wrench positioned about the fitting 9, as in Fig. 1, thereafter assembling the reinforcing member 12 with the wrench to secure the arms 7 against spreading. When the fitting 9 is tight the member 12 can be quickly and easily removed. The device can be made in any desired size and the indentations in any desired shape without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the claims, the term axis or axially refers to the axis of turning of the nut or bolt head 9.

While I have disclosed a form of the invention presently preferred by me, various changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art after a study of the present disclosure. Hence the disclosure is to be taken in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense; and it is my desire and intention to reserve all modifications falling within the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having now fully disclosed the invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

1. A wrench comprising a head, spaced arms integral with said head and forming a work-engaging socket between them, a handle extending from the head; said head having seats formed therein at its junction with said handle; and an arcuate reinforcing member embracing said head to prevent spreading of said spaced arms, the ends of said arcuate member terminating at the junction of said head and said handle and having lugs formed on its ends to slidably engage said seats.

2. The combination with a wrench having a handle terminating in a head formed with spaced work-engaging arms and having a seat formed at the inner end of each of said arms, of an arcuate reinforcing member embracing said spaced work-engaging arms and having each end terminating in a lug for slidably engaging one of said seats.

3. In a wrench, a head, a circumferentially-extending portion integral with said head and defining a socket to receive and grip a member to be turned, there being parallel axial outwardly-opening cylindrical channels at the junction of said portion with said head, and an open annular reinforcement member having bulbous ends adapted to fit within respective ones of said channels and to encircle and fit about said circumferentially-extending portion to reinforce the same.

4. A wrench as recited in claim 3, said bulbous ends being engageable in said channels by a translation only of said reinforcement member axially of said base.

5. In an open-type wrench, a head, a pair of spaced arms integral with said head and adapted to grip a memher to be turned, there being an outwardly-opening, axially-extending, cylindrical channel in said head at the junction of each said arm therewith, and an arcuate reinforcement member having bulbous ends each adapted to fit within a respective channel when slid axially therealong, said member fitting about said arms and bridging the open ends thereof to prevent spreading, when each said bulbous end is fitting its channel.

6. A wrench as recited in claim 5, said channels and bulbous ends being so constructed that, when interfitted, said ends cannot be removed from the channels by any movement in a direction normal to the axes of said channets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mikkelson June 17, Schroeder July 18, White Mar. 2, Kraft Feb. 17, Johnson Oct. 20,

FOREIGN PATENTS France Nov. 8, Austria ......'.2 Oct. 10,

Germany Jan. 16, 

